I'm beginning to think PJ is a good X's and O's coach

Dano564

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Talked postgame about Nebraska's line and how the hope was running outside, getting them big Neb guys running sideways might work, and holy cow... it worked.

I might be wrong, but that's my opinion at this point.
 

Talked postgame about Nebraska's line and how the hope was running outside, getting them big Neb guys running sideways might work, and holy cow... it worked.

I might be wrong, but that's my opinion at this point.

He’s for sure a great motivator. I don’t know how much of the scheme he makes each week, but the staff has things working pretty well as a crew right now
 

He's a great motivator and I think he's also very good at taking a lot of the Xs and Os that his coordinators have
and translating and relating that to the players.
 

Frost said they knew what was coming, but obviously could not stop it. Call it execution, call it physical domination, but we beat them with what they knew we were going to throw at them.
 

Not sure how much of a X’s and O’s coach he is but he knows football.

He’s more than a motivational speaker running a college football team.
 


Not sure how much of a X’s and O’s coach he is but he knows football.

He’s more than a motivational speaker running a college football team.

If it's a system that works for him, that's all he needs to be. Organized, good recruiter, good evaluator of assistant coaching talent, focused on culture. That sounds pretty good, if that's his MO.
 

Not Xs and Os. He’s a good CEO. Makes the hires, gives his people the tools to succeed, fosters a company culture of accountability and hard work, and inspires.
 

It was always true of Bud Grant: he knew more than you thought he did.
 

Maybe he is just a good coach. He's been around the game enough to pick up a few things and maybe contribute to the game plan :) Lets see, played in college and the NFL and has coached at the collegiate level for 13 years now.... There are all sorts of coaching styles, he seems to have found one that works for him and the team.
 



I think we thought he was recruiter / motivator first, and actual coach second.

But his team from a penalty stand point is "disciplined" to say the least.
From listening to post-game press conferences, it sounds like PJ is way more detailed oriented. In other conversations of teaching the WR's, they have a specific plan for teaching WR's and by that he can measure how far along they are coming. He seems to be very detail oriented which might be the reason why we execute at a higher rate than a team like Nebraska.

Scott Frost seems to think that lifting more weights is going to get you to dominate, but evidently it's not just size and strength.


Another note, Nebraska is getting the 4 star players. We're getting the 3 star. But if your 4 star thinks they are already good enough, but a 3 star keeps battling to improve, it's a different attitude.
PJ's improving your best every day mantra plays in well for our guys.
 

He is the best offensive coach we have had since Mason.
Just because you aren’t the play caller doesn’t mean you don’t help design the plan each week.
 


Maybe he is just a good coach. He's been around the game enough to pick up a few things and maybe contribute to the game plan :) Lets see, played in college and the NFL and has coached at the collegiate level for 13 years now.... There are all sorts of coaching styles, he seems to have found one that works for him and the team.

Exactly, and yet we've had folks here just think all he has is a schtick with a bunch of gimmicks. They're able to evaluate his coaching expertise because they played high school football, maybe coached at a high school or junior high level, and watch Gopher games. The guy didn't get to his coaching level that quickly or play in the NFL with his size and not be paying attention to the finer points of the game along the way.
 



I think it was Ciarrocca that said Fleck isn't really involved in calling specific plays and at that level, but he's never been around a coach that is so good at "coaching the coaches" as Fleck is. I like that.
 

Well, he did mention that he scored an 18 on the ACT. Some of the most insightful, wisest people I know are rank and file blue collar, tradesmen types. Some of the dumbest, least insightful, most gullible people I know have all kinds of credentials behind their names. But, it may imply at least on some level he’s not a details guy, nuts and bolts wizard or maybe doesn’t have the interest some others do. He’d rather be out playing (can’t anymore), mingling, motivating, and speaking which is another type of skill many of us aren’t always skilled at.

Some guys like Belichik are really intelligent, detail-oriented people. Some are more big idea, salesman, marketing types like Jobs (which is its own kind of intelligence). Some are a little bit of both Jobs and Woz. My feeling is PJ’s on field fortunes may rise and fall with his assistant hires but IF everything works out he is the secret sauce that can take the program to the next level via recruiting and marketing.
 

Wasn't an X and O guy either. He left that for his staff.

Like Fleck, he coached the coaches, as dude cites above. And like Fleck, he played pro ball and took different things from different coaches he played for and worked for, most notably Paul Brown. Grant is considered in the Paul Brown coaching tree.
 

Well, he did mention that he scored an 18 on the ACT. Some of the most insightful, wisest people I know are rank and file blue collar, tradesmen types. Some of the dumbest, least insightful, most gullible people I know have all kinds of credentials behind their names. But, it may imply at least on some level he’s not a details guy, nuts and bolts wizard or maybe doesn’t have the interest some others do. He’d rather be out playing (can’t anymore), mingling, motivating, and speaking which is another type of skill many of us aren’t always skilled at.

Some guys like Belichik are really intelligent, detail-oriented people. Some are more big idea, salesman, marketing types like Jobs (which is its own kind of intelligence). Some are a little bit of both Jobs and Woz. My feeling is PJ’s on field fortunes may rise and fall with his assistant hires but IF everything works out he is the secret sauce that can take the program to the next level via recruiting and marketing.

I hate to keep going Grant on this, but the parallels are numerous. I can't even remember the occasion, but a while ago I sat at a banquet table with a lady who went to high school with Bud. She said he wasn't the best and brightest student. And he famously had a hard time staying eligible at the U.
 


I think we thought he was recruiter / motivator first, and actual coach second.

But his team from a penalty stand point is "disciplined" to say the least.
From listening to post-game press conferences, it sounds like PJ is way more detailed oriented. In other conversations of teaching the WR's, they have a specific plan for teaching WR's and by that he can measure how far along they are coming. He seems to be very detail oriented which might be the reason why we execute at a higher rate than a team like Nebraska.

Scott Frost seems to think that lifting more weights is going to get you to dominate, but evidently it's not just size and strength.


Another note, Nebraska is getting the 4 star players. We're getting the 3 star. But if your 4 star thinks they are already good enough, but a 3 star keeps battling to improve, it's a different attitude.
PJ's improving your best every day mantra plays in well for our guys.

Naw, PJ had his WMU team near the top in the country in time of possession and fewest penalties. That demonstrates strategy and understanding of the game. It takes discipline to achieve either of these indicators. That’s coaching. Neither just happens by luck or accident.

The question for me is: Can he sustain success? He left WMU when they got to the top. At MN most of the “stars” were recruited by the previous staff. I’m optimistic but the hardest part of “turnarounds” (we were 9 and 4) is sustaining success. Lots of coaches get teams to the top for a season or two. Keeping it there is extremely difficult.

Beat Rutgers!
 

I hate to keep going Grant on this, but the parallels are numerous. I can't even remember the occasion, but a while ago I sat at a banquet table with a lady who went to high school with Bud. She said he wasn't the best and brightest student. And he famously had a hard time staying eligible at the U.

I’ll bet anybody who knows Bud or PJ would not call either one dumb. Both are going to do things their way and don’t care what you think about it. PJ does however seem very aware of his critics. Despite that, he’s staying the course.
 

I admire Fleck. Do his Fleck-isms and repeating of the words “culture” and all that get a little annoying? Sure. But from ALL accounts, who he is on TV and the sideline is who he is in person. He’s a genuinely nice guy. He cares about making young adult athletes he coaches into good football players, and into good citizens. He cares about the community he lives in. He wants to get fans back into the stadium, he wants to make the U of M into a great super power of college football again. Personally I think he can achieve all of these things. His energy and enthusiasm makes people work for him. He’s just one of those people that can make you want to run through a brick wall for him (ref: his halftime talk during last years Badger game). He has very high expectations of his players and he truly never accepts anyone’s performance as being their best. He constantly sets the bar higher for every player. He’s very systematic in how he tries to improve each area of the team. He finds key errors to fix for the next game, and players seem to fix those errors he finds fairly quick. I think while he may not be totally an X’s and O’s coach, he is very good at spotting flaws and faults. Maybe he’s able to do that and relay it to his assistants who do the correcting. I think he’s probably the best coach to come the Gopher’s way in a long long time.


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